New guidelines published by the Vatican on how to deal with abuse cases has been well received in Latin America.
DANIEL PORTILLO,
Director, Center for the Protection of Minors
'The people who are directly involved in these cases needed this operating manual where they were promptly instructed on what they should do in order to achieve justice.'
'There was a compelling request from the episcopal conferences, I say this at least for Latin America because they wanted to act in accordance with the law and respect for the people involved.'
Fr. Daniel Portillo directs the Center for the Protection of Minors at the Pontifical University of Mexico. There they teach priests, nuns, and employees of Church institutions to detect abuse and help victims.
For him this manual is an important step forward.
DANIEL PORTILLO,
Director, Center for the Protection of Minors
'If our preventive work and that of doing justice is not a pedagogy, it becomes a disguise. A disguise that only seeks to justify that something is said to be done in the Church, without systematically trying to indicate how to achieve it.'
The text is in seven languages and is addressed primarily to bishops. It explains how they should act from the moment they hear of an abuse case, until the accused is brought to trial. For this reason, it is also of interest to those who work in institutions and do not know how to act in the case of abuse.
The new document did not announce new measures, but it systematized them.
For example, it recommends investigating all complaints, regardless of their source, and requests victims to denounce the culprit before the civil authorities as well.
Javier Martínez-Brocal
Translation: KM
